Vancouver prostitutes need to know their rights when dealing with cameras and reporters and will be offered media training ahead of the 2010 Olympic Games, an advocacy group said.

VANCOUVER – Vancouver sex-trade workers need to know their rights when dealing with cameras and reporters and will be offered media training ahead of the 2010 Olympic Games, an advocacy group said.

The Prostitution Alternatives Counselling and Education Society, located in Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside, will hold the session in November.

"We just want our members to feel safe. ... Media attention to the area can be a little less than compassionate and we don't want them to feel like animals in a zoo," said spokeswoman Kerry Porth.

"We just want (the sex-trade workers) to be aware of what their rights are around media, including the fact that it is legal for (media) to take a picture of them on a public street," Porth said.

The society held a similar training session at the onset of the Robert Pickton trial. Pickton was convicted on six counts of second-degree murder in December 2007.

Sue Davis, a Vancouver sex worker, said that during the trial "some workers reported up to nine reporters a day trying to film them," she said. "And people asking them things like 'Do you feel safe? Did your friends die? Are you on drugs?' And then 'Thanks for the story, see you later.' "

Porth said the response from those who received the training at the time was positive.

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